Cinemette South

2090 Greentree Road,

Pittsburgh,
PA15220

These theaters did not last very long. It looks like they closed sometime during the first week of September 1982. The last films to play there were “Midnight” and “The World According to Garp.” As Ed Blank noted above, the theaters were up the hill and off the main road. I know that the only film I ever saw there was “A Bridge Too Far” in 1977.

Constructed as a twin cinema, Cinemette South was odd in its day for a new twin in that there was a considerable imbalance in the size of the auditoriums. One contained 556 seats, the other 294.

Though the theater was nice and was within walking distance of what was then a Samurai Restaurant, Cinemette South was tucked up on a steep hill, with the unadorned back of the building facing down on Greentree Road.

The theater faced its own parking lot, which was not visible to the road below.

Though located at 2090 Greentree Road and carrying the Greentree zipcode 15220, the twin was in Scott Township, a southwestern suburb of Pittsburgh.

It was designed as a first-run South Hills theater, sometimes picking up pictures that had just concluded exclusive Downtown engagements.

But despite the densely residential suburban area in which it was located, it never managed to establish itself as a high-grossing destination. It was peculiarly isolated.

A personal recollection: Never one to let weather interfere with moviegoing plans, I drove to Cinemette South on what became a very snowy evening. When I left the virtually empty theater a couple of hours later, I was taken aback by the slipperiness of the steep road leading back down to Greentree Road. I recall creeping down in my car inch by inch for a very long time.

Since the twin cinemas closed, the building has been used mainly as office and possibly retail space.